http://homerecordinghome.com/the-cutting-room-editing-audio-tracks/ So far, you have an excellent vocal track; strong, present, and free of sonic interference. But, are you wondering why it sounds a little junky?

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The Cutting Room -
Editing Audio Tracks
[Recording Vocals Pt 5]
http://homerecordinghome.com/the-cutting-room-
editing-audio-tracks/

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So far, you have an excellent vocal track; strong, present, and free of
sonic interference. But, are you wondering why it sounds a little junky?
That is because the human voice produces more noises than the
pleasant tones you are looking for. In editing, you cut away the excess
to get to the most essential parts, before refining even further.

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Make Room for the Crowd
Recording is often about taking things away to
make more room.
It’s important to hone that ability to trim away
the fat. When you have only a few tracks,
the imperfections and excess are plainly
visible. As you add tracks, noise really adds
up and clouds your tracks. Image © bass_nroll via Compfight

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Comping
The first step is compiling a complete, continuous track, a process
known as comping. Even your efforts to get the best take of a vocalist
can be stymied by some minor mistakes.
Make sure that you get familiar with crossfades. Sometimes, you cut
very close to words, perhaps even mid-word. Without crossfading,
you’ll create a choppy and uneven take.

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Taking Out the Trash
It’s time to unearth the perfect track that’s hiding inside it. It can be a
really good way of focusing your cleanup duties by showing what
needs work and what doesn’t.
This saves some time, but it can also
take away crucial elements of the track
without your noticing it.
Image © bass_nroll via Compfight

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At the Gates….
Noise gates are also fine choices for reducing junky vocal sounds.
Once you set the threshold, attack, and release parameters, you
should have a squeaky clean vocal track. Just take some time to solo
the vocals and make sure that you examine the track for integrity.

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Hand Jive
Removing all extraneous vocal noises eliminates some of the
humanity of a track, so I like to leave a few in. It sounds like torture, but
I can usually get through a track pretty fast this way with some piece of
mind that the entire track is up to my standards.

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What Was Lost
After editing, take some time to listen to the vocals in context. You’ll
notice a bit more clarity that is difficult to identify.
This is the last step of the production phase. Now, you’re ready to get
started on post-production.

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The Cutting Room -
Editing Audio Tracks
[Recording Vocals Pt 5]
http://homerecordinghome.com/the-cutting-room-
editing-audio-tracks/